Just days after announcing the surge of 30,000 more U.S. troops in his Afghan war, Barack Obama was in Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize that was announced shortly after he became president—before he had done anything. Next, he was in Copenhagen accepting a deal without any teeth to address “global warming,” in the midst of a blizzard that dumped snow on the Danish capital, suggesting to most people that the issue is a “hoax.”

Straddling his back-to-back trips to Europe, he was in Washington, D.C.—where he was met by a blizzard on his return from Denmark—pushing for the enactment of ObamaCare that Americans oppose[2]. The legislation is so reckless that it had to be rammed through the U.S. Senate on a partisan vote. Also, the Democrats’ leadership hid the exact nature of the health care bill from senators, who surely had a right to know what they were voting for.

Then the president jetted off to spend the holidays in Hawaii[3], having irresponsibly saddled the people with ObamaCare—after the legislation clears a joint Senate-House conference committee and he signs some version of it into law—which is reprehensible, certainly with respect to its impact on Medicare patients[4]. His recent travels alone create a carbon footprint globally that boggles the mind, especially when so many Americans are suffering from an economic meltdown that shows few real signs of abating. Indeed, 49 States have lost jobs since his so-called “Stimulus Package” was enacted.[5]

Hispopularity poll numbers have been plummeting[6], but he is seemingly oblivious to the will of the people and determined to remake the United States and the world in his own image. Never mind that his life was shaped by years growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia, he is bent on changing this country. He did not set foot on the American mainland until he attended Occidental College in Los Angeles and Columbia University in New York City; and when he did so, he was a druggie—according to his own admissions[7].

He ignores a super-majority of Americans who believe warming and cooling are natural phenomena that have occurred in cycles on this planet for millions of years. Science and common sense tell us that some of the coldest temperatures recorded to date have occurred in recent years.[8] Yet, in remarks prepared for delivery in Denmark, he called on heads of state and other attendees to forge a deal, warning that “[u]nchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies, and our planet. This much we know.”[9]

What we know for certain is that scientific studies support the opposite conclusion, namely that “global warming” is a hoax; and they have been suppressed and their authors have been intimidated. Also, the leaders who arrived in Copenhagen did so on private jets, and they commandeered a fleet of limousines in the midst of global economic problems—as if to thumb their noses at “commoners” worldwide who pay for their trips and lavish life styles, and say: “Let them eat cake.”

Obama is determined to close our detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer its “detainees” (or jihadists) to prisons in the continental U.S., which the American people oppose. Also, he pushes for the trial of terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City—rather than in a military tribunal—which will make a public spectacle of the event, and expose the city to more chaos and the risk of additional attacks at a time when it is still traumatized by 9/11.

His decisions on both issues are wrong and irresponsible, which was underscored by the attempted Christmas Day terrorist bombing attempt on Northwest Airlines Flight 253.[10] Earlier in the year, the president had the audacity to give himself a “B+” for his performance in office. However, it is doubtful that a majority of Americans would give him a grade even remotely approaching that. In fact, he has been given an “F” for protecting Americans, and criticized harshly.[11]

Obama is pursuing his war in Afghanistan, but failing to heed the advice of his generals and trying to micromanage the war on the cheap, thereby endangering the mission as well as brave members of our military—which is stretched too thin already. They do not deserve to be hamstrung into failure by an anti-war community organizer-president, who is half-heartedly supporting the war and unable (or unwilling) to state that the goal of winning is why we are there.[12]

He is pursuing deals with Russia’s “dictator-for-life” Putin, who is a smoother version of Stalin. Both men are known for the brutal oppression and systematic elimination of their critics.[13]Russia is no longer a super power, and it is little more than a Third World country with severe economic problems. It should not be helped by the United States, much less coddled; and Putin should be treated as our enemy[14]. Obama has befriended Venezuela’s Chavez too, and other tinhorn dictators and enemies of America.

In 1859, Joshua Abraham Norton—better known as “Emperor Norton I,” a celebrated citizen of San Francisco—proclaimed himself “Emperor of these United States.” He issued numerous proclamations including his “order” that the U.S. Congress be dissolved by force.[15]If there was ever an American who had regal notions of grandeur and an imperial presidency, it is Barack Obama. His naïveté[16] has been matched by his arrogance and overarching narcissism. Ultimately, he may be viewed as a tragic Shakespearean figure who is forgotten and consigned to the dustheap of history.

In a famous Danish fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, an emperor marches in a procession under a beautiful canopy wearing a new suit of clothes that does not exist, provided by two swindlers. A little child says at last: “But he has nothing on at all.”[17]Obama’s core beliefs and modus operandiare becoming clear for Americans and the world to see[18], as the first decade of the 21st Century ends ominously. He is a mistake of potentially cataclysmic proportions.[19]

[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass), the first black senator since Reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War. He practices law in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles with his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates (www.naegele.com). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from UCLA, as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years. See, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles

[19]See, e.g., http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704152804574628134281062714.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read (“[The] patina of cosmopolitanism in President Obama’s background concealed the isolationism of the liberal coalition that brought him to power. . . . The man who demolished the Iraqi tyranny, George. W. Bush, is no longer in power, and a different sentiment drives America’s conduct abroad. . . . No despot fears Mr. Obama, and no blogger in Cairo or Damascus or Tehran, no demonstrator in those cruel Iranian streets, expects Mr. Obama to ride to the rescue. . . . He had declared a unilateral end to the ‘war on terror,’ but the jihadists and their mentors are yet to call their war to a halt. From Yemen to Fort Hood and Detroit, the terror continues.”)

Aside from his porn “stars,” escorts and other bimbos, the issue that may totally destroy Tiger Woods is drug use and abuse, with respect to which rumors have been swirling since his “accident.”

One of America’s finest sports writers, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, has a lead story dated December 16, 2009[2], in which he asserts that Tiger’s credibility—already eroded by marital infidelity—could evaporate entirely if there is fire to go along with the smoke generated by his reported link to a doctor who promotes performance-enhancing drugs such as HGH. Plaschke’s comments about the alleged linkage echo a report by the New York Times.

As Plaschke writes: “If a guy is a chronic cheater off the course, what kind of leap is required to believe he could be the same sort of cheater on the course?” The doctor, Anthony Galea, is apparently under a joint U.S.-Canadian investigation for providing athletes with such performance-enhancing drugs. One of the athletes that has been under Galea’s care is Tiger, who was visited “at least four times” at his Florida home by the doctor.

Plaschke adds: “The public thinks, if there’s even a chance [Tiger is] guilty of running a harem while married with two young children, there’s a chance he could be guilty of anything. Once we realize we don’t know him, then we stop trusting him. And once we stop trusting him, then he becomes vulnerable to people ignoring the amazing flight of his ball and concentrating on the unsettling size of his neck”—a reference to the size of disgraced baseball star Barry Bonds’ neck.

Bonds is a central figure in baseball’s steroids scandal; and his agent pronounced his playing career dead on December 10, 2009, saying it is essentially impossible for Bonds to find work in baseball heading into 2010. Today, Bonds is remembered not only for his home runs and All-Star Games and Most Valuable Player awards, but also for a federal indictment that accuses him of lying to a grand jury about knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

Plaschke notes with respect to Tiger: “You know what’s really recklessly irresponsible? Dealing with a doctor who has a history of using and prescribing the banned HGH substance, that’s what.” Clearly Tiger is a sick human being. No “happily-married man” who cavorts with porn stars and other women with savory reputations—much less in his own home—is anything less.

His popularity is plummeting, according to the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.[3] Since admitting to “infidelity,” his “favorable” rating dropped to 33 percent in the latest poll versus 85 percent from his last poll in June 2005. His “unfavorable” rating climbed to 57 percent from 8 percent four years ago. Tiger posted the highest popularity rating in poll history, 88 percent, when Gallup first measured him in 2000. The swing is the largest drop between consecutive measurements since Gallup began tracking it in 1992, according to its managing editor.

The results of the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll are similar to those of the latest highly-respected Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey—announced on December 9, 2009[4]—which found that just 38 percent of Americans now have a favorable opinion of Tiger. That is down from 56 percent, shortly after the stories first broke about his auto accident. Two years ago, 83 percent had a favorable opinion of him.

It is not surprising that women take a harsher view of him as well. Golf has been predominantly a men’s sport until recent years, and most women—certainly those who do not play or follow golf—probably view him as nothing more than another highly-paid athlete who got caught cheating on his wife. What is so tragic is that golf gave Tiger an opportunity to rise to its zenith; and he has abused his family, friends, fans, sponsors, and the sport itself.

Tiger has trashed the sport of golf like no other player in its history. Every American golf pro and others who earn a living from the sport worldwide will be hurt by his conduct. His golf swing cannot be separated from his reckless life style. He is a global disgrace. However, golf will live through the Tiger Woods era and survive. American golf existed long before anyone heard of him, and it will exist long after he is gone and nothing more than entries in the record books like Barry Bonds.

Tiger and his handlers have devised the ruse of a “hiatus” from golf because they want people to beg him to stay in the game. An acquaintance of mine has noted: ”It’s a shrewd political move. It makes him sympathetic. It makes the public and the PGA beg for his return. His alleged ‘indefinite’ leave from the game is no such thing, nor is it designed so he can ‘work on his family issues.’ Rather it’s a cynical way to try to regain favor with the public.”

For many of us, Tiger was never a hero—just a gladiator or human “machine” that his father had fashioned, much like the gladiators who were trained for combat in ancient Rome. Hence, we feel neither disillusioned nor betrayed, because Tiger is akin to so many other celebrities and politicians of our times, who have unbelievable feet of clay and should not be role models for anyone. Regrettably, lots of people of all different ages apparently needed a hero and found one in Tiger.

Many of us have enjoyed the game of golf before Tiger came on the scene, where he was certainly dominant at times. Vijay Singh and other fine golfers excelled too, and many of us applauded them, not Tiger. What none of us really knew was that Tiger is a fraud and a sick human being, as well as the hedonistic version of the “American dream” gone haywire.

There are reports that Elin has decided to leave him after Christmas, and that she is already talking with one or more divorce lawyers. Apparently she wants the holiday season to appear normal for her children, but will separate from him early in the New Year. Tiger is an uncontrollable narcissist who will never change, nor can he be “fixed” by Elin or anyone else. His marriage seems doomed regardless of what he does, which should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Bill Plaschke has noted: “As the public leaves him, so do advertisers, with global consulting firm Accenture PLC completely dumping him and Gillette pulling his commercials indefinitely.” Accenture’s termination of Tiger is presumably based on a “morals clause” in his contract. With Gillette and AT&T phasing him out of their ads as well, which means they are dumping him—after Gatorade has dropped him already—the rest of his sponsors may follow suit.

Plaschke adds: “Woods won’t just lose all his endorsements—when was the last time you saw Barry Bonds selling anything?—but he’ll also lose his last bastion of support, his galleries. Even those guys wearing plaid pants and [smoking] fat cigars don’t much tolerate golf cheats. If golf fans go nuts when they think a guy is using a juiced driver, imagine what they’ll think about a juiced body.”

Also, there are reports that Team Tiger is coming apart, and that those who have guided his career in recent years may be dropped. The real “hustlers” of Tiger are Steve Williams, his caddie; Bryon Bell, president of Tiger Woods Design; Mark Steinberg, his manager; and the other leeches who have made their living from him and knew exactly what was happening but kept taking his money.

Williams has said: “What people fail to realise is I [just] work for Tiger Woods . . . I am not with him 24/7. . . . When he is not competing, I am back in New Zealand. I have no knowledge of what he is doing . . . .” Williams claims the scandal has caused strife in his own marriage—perhaps because he lied to his wife like Tiger lied to Elin.

Bell allegedly arranged for the trip to Australia of Tiger’s bimbo, Rachel Uchitel, to join him at the Australian Open. He even paid for her ticket and accompanied her on the flight. Steinberg has been Tiger’s agent for 12 years, and the likelihood that he did not know what was happening is slim to none. Moreover, any notion that these men failed to spot the trouble as it was developing, of course, is naïve and a fantasy. If anything, it is likely that one or more of them served as high-class procurers or pimps for the golf legend.

When all is said and done, the media made Tiger a celebrity, and sadly it is unmaking him now.

[1] Mr. Naegele was counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee; and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass), the first black senator since Reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War. He practices law in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles with his firm, Timothy D. Naegele & Associates (www.naegele.com). He has an undergraduate degree in economics from UCLA, as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years. See, e.g., www.naegele.com/whats_new.html#articles